West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1887-11-10

plimeated the captain on the remarkably
clean and tidy appearance Of his YES ,ci.
and the Madame ON the cosy, bright and
homeike ca1in, in every part of which
were evidences o! womanlY taste.
They were not TO bc out lone i'm polite
ness and assured me that the mate, who
hau carried the note TO me that morning,
had returned charmed with my vessel,
which he reported TO be in most beautiful
order, or as he expressed il: "Slick rs
parlor." OF this had some doubts; il
was my impression that while that whale
boat was alongside we were very busy
hosting ashes, holystoning decks, scrub
blng paint work aud in other ways max.
ing ready for port. did not. however.
correct him; modest rs man may be, hc
IS not bound to reject compliments, even
II not wholly deserved No doubt the
mate was Cape Colder also, and a
very hospitablc, CHEEKY, norwcder sort
oi man, and they probably had most
delightful gam during which cN-
changes OF souvenirs, scrimshawed whale
teeth, tooth ivory pie crust crimpcrs, &C
on the one side, versus navy plug tobac-
co on the other, added to the enjoy
ment.
The Madame accepted my compliment
as TO the cleanliness, but to my surprise
did not seem TO altogether approve OF il.
She said that, for her part, much as she
loved cleanliness, her happicst times were
when the vessel was in most filthy con
dition. Seeing that was puzzled, she
explained that she referred to cutting
IN days, which on every occas on mean a
Soodly sum Of money ahead and short
ening of the cruise At such times the
captured wha'c is secured alongside by
sings at each end, so arranged that the
body can Tevolvc The hook of a
masthead purchase is inserted near the
head, on each side Of it a spiral tran.
verse cut is made, and the strip OF blub-
Der, flesh, etc, is hoistcd; when high
enough, asccond tackle hook is inserted,
the hoistcd strip cut of Just above the
IT hook, and the great slice perhaps 30
itet or more 10y feet, is lowered To the
deck, and there reduced to dimensions
suited TO the try-pot. During this pro-
cess the vessel naturally becomes very
bloody and greasy, with patches of SCOT
proiusely sprinkled.
After explaining to me, the Madame
asked; Did you ever see a whale cut
inl"
Fortunately ! had. She asked me
when and where, and this is the story |
told her: "It was in March, 1865. that
the [. ). S. Connecticut, OF which | was
executive officer while making q cruise
through the West Indies, went into
Bridgetown IIarbor, Barbados. We
passed, anchored in the outer harbor. an
American whaling schooner, alongside OF
which a dead whale was secured, and tho
crew was busy cutting in As soon as
we coud get boat party Of us started
Tor the schooner to witness the work
We went on bard, and your description
Of the STATE of affairs hardly does Justice
it was about the Understanding place wa
ever got into. The mae told me that
the lay before, the captain and nearly all
hands being on shore, this wha'e blew.
not more than a mile outside, and that
lowering away he, with the cook. cabin
boy and couple of hands, had gone out
and captured him"
The Madame listened very attentively,
and seemed greatly Interested she
asked me: "Wc!c there any ladies on
board Of that schooner
Not that know OF, " was the answer.
81 did get a glimpse Of pctticoat lust
vanishing through the cabin door rs
went over the side, but the mate tol I me
that IT was washwoman come for tn
old mans wash
This Madame seemed 20 consider n
very good Joke, and INDUCED in llugh
mote hearty and merry than could sec
that the Joke warranted My surprise
can be better imagined than dc. cr bed.
when, recovering from her laughter. she
remarked. THAT he had no right 10
say aud he never told me that he did
did tell him not to let YOU into the cabin.
nor say word about our being on
boaid.n -
"Who and what do you mean" ]
interrupted, "Who was 'our'7"
Then she told me that she herself a d
her sister, young lady, were on board
OF that steamer, watched our cutter com
ing toward them, admired our uni 'orms.
but when we roundc J to alongside. scud
for the cabin, through the window blinds
Of which they saw us all the time. vcxed
enough that araycd in their "cuitinp
in clothes, they were not i'm condition
20 receive us And it was the very
schooner which ] had boarded i'm Bar
bados in which, five years afterat Faynl.
this story for which / was indebted TO
Wcevis, was told me.
The adventure suppl ed us with quite
stock Of conversation. II did seem 80
strange that we had so nearly met be-
fore, prevented only by chance, and that
after all this time -four sieve or rather
the need Of ono, had brought us together.
Cur conve satiOn dritcd into other chan.
ncls and we found ourselves COMPARING
notes rs 10 our nautical experiences. She
told me Of the hardest time she had ever
experienced, q tale Of "a voyage during
which, With almost 10 luck in catching
whales, they did catch fever on tho
Africa coast, and had dismal times and n
gloomy voyage
in turn got up as pathetic % story as
facts and Imagination would furnish Of
my dreary life on board Of a monitor.
dilating ON the foul air darkness. damn.
ness aud other discomforts attendant
upon being boxed up under water in am
iron box
She was truly and gratifyiugly sorry
for me- she had "secn one Of those hor.
rid vessels. and all Of the wha' cs i'm the
Atlantic would not tempt her 10 live on
board Of one"
] asked her when and where she had
seen ono, and if she remembered its
name
'lci, 10 was The Nantucket. She ran
into Provincctown Harbor one dav I'm the
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